There's nothing to be ashamed of

I write in reaction to Jim Walters' May 10 letter ("Shame on us for not getting out to vote").

Because of a personal family matter, I was not as involved in the Vote No campaign as I would have liked. I am not a "loony" lefty - in fact, I resent that childish name calling - and don't believe that many on the right were my compatriots; they opposed the jail primarily for financial reasons, which was not the basis for my opposition.

"Shame on our community for continuing to subject employees, inmates and visitors to the inadequate and unsafe working conditions of the current jail and courthouse," Walters writes. There is no shame felt by me for my stance against a supposed "solution" that was too big, too expensive, too able to be expanded without a future vote of the people and a "solution" that did not begin to address ways to legitimately reduce the jail population. I am not "gloating," and no one I know on the anti-side of this ballot issue is gloating either.

Responses now to the opposition lie in the actions of those elected to represent us, all of us. They should put into action the points articulated by Bob Thompson and John Neff in their May 8 guest columns. The implementation of those suggestions as well as a smaller jail proposal separated from additional courtroom space will win my vote.

The Iowa City Council must take this matter seriously and implement the recommendations of the Diversity Committee of the Human Rights Commission, and suggest to our police chief that it might be time to move on. They also should quit signing on to the Edward R. Byrne Grant Application that heavily funds much of the policing effort that many of us find unsatisfactory.

Carol deProsse

Iowa City

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There's nothing to be ashamed of

I write in reaction to Jim Walters' May 10 letter ('Shame on us for not getting out to vote').